Amid the queue for a city permit, a hopeful nightclub operator couldn’t get past the city’s bouncers—concerned Solvang officials. On Aug. 3, the Solvang Planning Commission vetoed a property owner’s application to transform the vacant site formerly known as Alisal Cellars into a new nightclub destination, despite the project’s consistency with downtown policies, according to […]
Solvang City Council
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Judge rejects Solvang’s request to dismiss a developer’s lawsuit
Solvang’s legal advisors have until Aug. 3 to respond to a civil lawsuit after a judge rejected the city’s argument to throw out the case. In mid-July, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge James F. Rigali overruled Solvang’s petition to dismiss local developer Ed St. George’s suit against the city for issuing a stop work […]
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Solvang uses state exemption to buy gasoline-fueled buses
Set to expire at the end of this calendar year, a temporary waiver from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) allowed the city of Solvang to add two new gasoline-fueled buses to its public fleet that travels across the Santa Ynez Valley. Without the waiver, addressing the city’s recent bus shortage would have left leaders […]
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Solvang discusses copyright protections for city assets
Over the past four months, conversations surrounding Solvang Mayor David Brown’s tourism app—an independent business venture not affiliated with the city—warranted his recusals from several public hearings. His latest departure from the dais was during the Solvang City Council’s June 22 meeting, when his peers took part in a discussion about increasing copyright protections for […]
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Solvang officials submit to new financial reporting after phone app backlash
Complaints from some Solvang officials about being blindsided by Mayor David Brown’s new side venture prompted an update to the City Council’s ethics code. While Brown informed city staff about his plans for Solvang Passport—a mobile phone app he created that promotes specific tourism destinations and businesses in town for a monthly fee—in late 2025, […]
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Solvang bans public urination, defecation
Constant giggling bled into the Solvang City Council’s discussion of a recent incident that inspired officials to formally ban public urination and defecation within city limits. A sighting of the latter specifically prompted the legislation, City Manager Randy Murphy explained. “I don’t think ‘number one’ was the issue here,” Murphy said at the council’s May […]
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Phone app controversy inspires changes to Solvang’s ethics code
Skateboard pro Robby Hargreaves’ 60 seconds of airtime at a Solvang City Council meeting in February prompted city officials to take a multi-month deep dive into a cellphone app developed by Mayor David Brown. The local owner of Solvang Skate Shop approached the public comment podium that night to ask about a new scavenger hunt-style […]
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Solvang debates perceived conflicts about a new phone app
Before stepping out of the Solvang City Council’s March 23 meeting, Mayor David Brown playfully handed his gavel to Councilmember Louise Smith. “We’re going to need it,” Smith joked, followed by some laughs on the dais, including from Brown. As the council’s mayor pro tem, Smith didn’t resort to gavel-slamming at the hearing—which Brown recused […]
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Solvang Passport mobile app raises City Council conflict concerns
A new smartphone app with local ties invites those who download it to make Solvang their own personal “playground.” Created by Mayor David Brown, Solvang Passport highlights dozens of businesses across the city while promoting “stamps” (QR codes) at each location for app users to seek out and scan. The more stamps users collect through […]
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You can stay here: Solvang may stop new short-term rentals in suburban neighborhoods
From a zebra-themed bed and breakfast to a permitted treehouse in someone’s backyard, Solvang resident Max Hanberg has booked some pretty wild vacation getaways in his lifetime. He and his wife were already frequent users of Airbnb and Vrbo by the time they began using both platforms to list a short-term rental of their own […]
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Solvang targets ‘derelict’ news racks with tighter code enforcement
Whether the perpetrators realized they were littering or not, too many people have treated Solvang’s newspaper racks like trash bins in recent years, City Manager Randy Murphy told elected officials. “They were attracting nuisance. People were leaving their garbage in them, and on them,” Murphy said at the Solvang City Council’s Jan. 26 meeting. “The […]
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Solvang considers removing Design Review Committee from sign permitting process
Time. Place. Manner. Case law shows that the legal limits of monitoring free speech and assembly go hand in hand with the objective rules a city can adopt to regulate signage and art—including murals—used by privately owned businesses. Over the past nine months, Solvang’s staff and legal advisors have cited U.S. Supreme Court cases, including […]
